Enter the Goddess
by writergirl182003
Summary: Amidst a crime wave in small town, Ohio, a woman emerges with a plan to help Sam and Dean stuff the devil back into the cage. It comes with a price, for all involved. starts between 5X21 and 5X22 and will continue down a modified finale onward
1. Are You Ready?

Chapter One

Are You Ready?

**A/N: This is started before the season 5 finale and really something I think would be rather cool. And could potentially give a HEA for the boys in season 6 and end it on a good note. :)**

**Of course I do not own Supernatural, or any characters from the show, that honor goes to Mr Kripke. I do however own the creative rights to Rachel, and any characters original to this fiction. This applies to this and all future chapters. **

_South Dakota_

_Bobby's home. _

Sam and Dean look over a map of Ohio, black X marks surrounding a small town in the western portion of the state. Dean looks up to Bobby, sighing. "OK, so what is it this time?"

Bobby shrugs, and settles back into the chair he is occupying and crosses his legs, a small smile coming to his lips at the ability to do so again. "Not a clue, but with the storms, and a few confirmed cases of demonic possession, along with the deaths, and fires, gotta be worth looking into."

Sam clears his throat, shifting uneasily at the corner of Bobby's desk. "Lucifer?"

"Or just demons, either way, there's a lot going on around that town. Bad mojo all around."

"Didn't Lucifer say that I would say yes to him in Detroit?" Sam looks to his brother, worry evident in his eyes.

Dean shakes his head, and points to the map. "Not Detroit"

"No but it's close enough isn't it?" He sighs, and turns for the door, heading for the Impala.

"Sam?" Dean starts after him, then stops, and looks back to Bobby. "We'll figure it out, and update you."

"Hey!" Bobby stands, chasing after him. "Take the fallen angel with you would you? His moping is irritating the hell out of me!"

Dean stops, looking into the living room where Cas was slouched on the couch, looking less put together then he ever had. "Seriously? Bobby, he's a drink out of that bottle away from being drunk."

"I've had it with him drinking all my beer, and moping around here like he owns the place."

Dean wrestles with his conscience for a moment before clearing his throat, and making his voice sound upbeat and excited. "Hey Cas, you up for a road trip?"

Cas glares at him from the couch, and takes another swig from his beer bottle. "Screw you, Dean."

Dean raises an eyebrow, then tries another approach. "We could really use an extra pair of hands."

Cas looks up between Bobby and Dean, then groans as he gains his feet. "Don't know why you'd want me to go with them, Bobby. I won't be any help. But I get the hint. You want me out." He stumbles a bit as he moves toward them, then braces himself on the doorway. "Good God, why do you drink that stuff?"

"I normally don't drink as much as you have, Cas." Dean clasps him on the shoulder, and leads him to the front door, and out onto the porch. That was when Cas stopped, doubled over, then lurched toward the railing, throwing up into what used to be bushes on the other side. The older Winchester pats the angel on the back as he passes him. "Atta boy, Cas."

Sam frowns as he starts back to the house, and stops when Cas heaves again. "How much did he drink?"

Dean grimaces as Cas heaves a third time. "Enough, apparently. Bobby? Couple bottles of water?"

Bobby turns to go back into the house, disapproval of the angel written on his face, to get the water. When he comes back out, Castiel had finished his purging and was groaning on the stairs holding his head. He hands Dean the bottles and watches as he moves to the Impala, Sam and Cas not far behind.

_Tiffin, Ohio_

Dean pulls the Impala onto the one way street running in front of the Police Department. He and Sam get out of the car, dressed in suits and ties, Cas climbs out of the passenger door from the back seat still in the tan trench coat looking like a hungover PI. The three of them move into the lobby, flashing their FBI badges to the secretary.

"Special Agent Murdock," Dean says, then gestures to Sam. "This is my partner Agent Stiles." Then he nods back to Castiel. "And this is a friend of ours, Detective Cobain."

The secretary looks closely at the badges for a moment, then up to their faces as they pulled them away. "What can I do for you?"

"We're looking into the Johnson Family's case, as well as the local fires, and the gas station robbery." Sam says, tucking away his fake ID.

The secretary narrows her wrinkled blue gaze on him. "You think they're all related?"

Dean gives the older woman a half nod. "We think they're connected somehow, yes. Who can we talk to about the cases?"

"That would be Chief LaGrange. Just a moment and I'll let him know you're here. Go right up those stairs to your left, there, and I'll call up for you." The older woman reaches for the phone, and dials a four digit extension as the three of them move toward the stairs.

The three moved single file up the stairs to the second floor of the department, to see the police chief exiting his office to shake hands with them. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Dean spoke up as Chief LaGrange reached for Castiel's hand, of whom just looked at the man for a moment before realizing what proper protocol was to be followed to keep up their charade. "We're looking into the recent crime wave that's struck your town. There's been a few cases like this in surrounding areas and states. What we're most interested in is the Johnson murders."

LaGrange shook his head as he led them into his office, his facial features saddened by the mention of the family. "Such a tragedy. Matt doesn't even remember doing it either. His lawyer is claiming amnesia, and a temporary insanity plea." He moves to a silver filing cabinet pulling out a file and slapping it wearily on the desk in front of Sam. There's not much you're gonna find in there that is any new information. The kid murdered four people in cold blood. They get younger and younger."

Sam frowns for a moment, then opens the file. His eyes scan over the mug shot, the boy looked young; 16 maybe 17 years old. He was bulky, and his short cropped blonde hair just barely reached the 6'2" mark on the measurement behind him. His blue eyes stare up at him, frightened from the photo. His eyes move over the case quickly, taking in as much as he could before they left the office. "It says there's a witness willing to testify in Matt's defense?"

LaGrange nods sadly. "Rachel Varden. Though she's not all that credible since her family died two years ago. She's reclused herself, even disappeared for weeks at a time before popping back in out of nowhere."

"She pop back in recently?" Castiel asks from his place by the door.

The brothers lookup at him in shock for a moment, then back to the police chief waiting for the answer.

"Matter of fact, yes. She lives just outside of town, north on route 53. She's been home for two weeks, so we're expecting her to take off again soon. Matt's trial is in a month so she'll be back then if you miss her while you're here."

Dean nods, and asks the chief to write down her address before continuing with his questioning. "What about the robberies and fires?"

LaGrange sighs and settled back into his chair. "it's the strangest thing, all of them are claiming they have no clue what happened, or even know they did it. But every single one of them say that Rachel can vouch for them. And she does."

Sam watches the chief closely noticing the tell tale sign that the officer was keeping something from them, something that was left out from every case file as well. "But?"

"Off the record?" The brothers nod, and the chief sighs before answering. "They all claim demonic possession. But that's ridiculous, and no way in hell it would stand up in court. Besides, you need a priest to exercise demons, and Rachel is no priest."

_Motel 8_

_Tiffin, Ohio_

Sam looks up from his laptop, triumph in his eyes as he turns his gaze to Dean and Cas. "So Rachel Varden is a hell of a lot more in depth then we could have thought."

Dean narrows his eyes as he settles back against the twin bed's headboard. "How so?"

"Well, two years ago, her family is killed. Right in front of her, husband went off the deep end, killed the daughter, and then cut his own throat." Sam lets that register, and Dean's eyebrow raises as he finishes that bit of information. "But I did some more digging on her. Her maiden name was Warren, Rachel Warren. September of '83 there was a fire in her house. Father lived, mother didn't make it out. Give you three guesses on where the fire originated."

Deans eyes narrowed on his brother. "Wait, another of the yellow eyed demon's soldier babies?"

"September 17th of '83. Her birth, March 17th of that year. Exactly 6 months old." Sam replies, sitting back in his chair. "Now somehow she escaped the round up with the rest of us, probably because she was protecting her daughter. Maybe it was _because_ she was protecting her daughter, using her abilities who knows? But exactly 6 months later, her family is killed. Six months after the Hell Gate was opened."

Dean shakes his head, slightly confused. "O.K. So she loses her mother to the Yellow eyed demon, and then her husband and daughter are killed, more then likely by demons. She hunts? Performs exorcisms in her free time?"

Sam shrugs slightly, and gestures to the computer. "I say we go talk to her."

Dean grunts, and grabs his jacket off the post of the bed frame. "Lets hope she's not the type to shoot first, and ask questions later."

_Rachel Varden's home. _

_3 miles north of Tiffin. _

Dean pulls the Impala up a gravel driveway, turning his radio down as he hears loud rock blaring from a radio outside the home. Movement from the left catches his attention as a woman pushes herself out from under a '78 Matador cursing. "Oh nice car."

The woman pushes herself off the cart she had been laying on oil covering the towel that drops from her chest, and she throws the cloth at the car before kicking the bumper. "Stupid piece of crap!" She grabs the hood and slams it down, then turns, hearing the Impala's engine, and narrows her eyes on the group inside. Her movement, seemingly nonchalant, to the passenger door isn't unnoticed by the brothers. They recognized the ram rod posture, alert eyes, and of course the reach inside the window possibly to grip hold of a gun inside the car.

Sam clears his throat as Dean cuts the engine, and starts to get out. "Take it easy would you?"

He leans back down into the car, and frowns at Sam. "What?"

"Which are you more impressed with, the car or the woman?"

Dean grins. "You know me too well, Sammy." He wasn't about to deny the fact that even though she clearly wasn't his normal type, that she didn't hold some sort of appeal. She is a foot shorter then he, long brown hair pulled back into a braid that stopped almost to the wait band of her blue jeans that rested on hips that made it obvious she had been a mother. The feminine T-shirt she wore clung to a slim waist line, and accentuated her breasts, which is what Dean's eyes were lingering on as he approached her. "Rachel Varden?"

Her chin comes up a bit, her eyes harden, a warning to him unspoken to stop right where he was. "Yeah. Who's asking?"

He takes his FBI badge out of his pocket, keeping up the charade for the moment. "Agent Murdock, my partner Agent Stiles, and close friend Detective Cobain."

She eyes them for a long moment before she bursts into laughter, pulling her hand from the window of the car. "As in Kurt? Let me guess, he was given that name after a bad round of drugs or a hang over?"

Dean stops and looks back over his shoulder at Sam and Castiel, his eyes widen in shock before he looks back at her. "What?"

She shakes her head, and crosses her arms under her breasts, smirking. "You Winchester brothers really need to stop naming yourself after rock legends."

"You know who we are?" He takes a cautious step toward her.

She shrugs, and moves to the trunk pulling out a bag holding four quarts of oil, then travels around the driver's side of the car to pull the hood latch, and then to the hood to prop it up once more. "Took me a minute, but yeah."

Sam moves up beside his brother. "How?"

She smirks up at him as she breaks the seal on the first quart. "I'm a hunter. Any hunter worth anything knows about the Winchesters." She tilts her head as she pours the oil into the car. "Your father was a freaking legend." She stops halfway through the quart, and looks up to the brothers. "I'm sorry by the way. It's hard losing a parent."

Dean, not wanting to get sentimental turns the subject to that of her car. "This is nice, what is it, a Matador? '77, '78?"

Rachel nods, and finishes off the quart, and cracks open the second. '78 Matador Barcelona. Rare car. It was my husband's, he fixed 'er up, and now she's my piece of crap."

Dean frowns. "Piece of crap? It looks like it's in perfect condition."

Rachel nods her head to the towel on the ground. "It hates me." She sets the quart upright in the proper position, and lets it drain out into the tank as she pushes herself away from the engine, and brushes her hands off. "So, what are you two out here for?"

"The Johnson murders. The crime rate is getting pretty high here."

She nods, and crosses her arms again. "Yeah it is. Demonic activity is sky rocketing too."

"Do you know why?" Sam asks.

She nods slightly. "Yeah." She waits a moment before she sighs and answered their unspoken question. "Me."

Both of the brothers frown, but it's Sam who speaks up. "Why you?"

Before she can respond, Cas steps forward, putting a cautionary hand on Sam's shoulder. "She's a vessel."

The brothers look back at him before turning their gaze back to the woman in front of them. "For who?" Dean asks.

She looks away from then, and sighs again. Just as she's about to answer them, she doubles over, holding her head in pain. "Oh GOD! Damn it all. Turn away!" A familiar tone rings out over the yard, the sun light seems to intensify as the tone become more insistent, and the light moves around Rachel.

Dean starts for her, but stops as he's thrown to the ground by Castiel. "Don't look!"

The light surrounds the woman, and pours into her as she screams once. The light dies away from her and she takes a deep breath in, straightening.

Dean frowns as he looks up at her. "Rachel?"

"Try again." Rachel looks down at them, her posture straighter, her voice held a more regal tone then before. "You've seen Gods before. And now... you're looking at _the _Goddess."

Dean gains his feet, and stares at the woman that was Rachel in disbelief. "The goddess?"

"The Wiccan Goddess. I had a hand in creating this world, and I will not see it go to hell because one fallen angel is throwing a two year old's temper tantrum." Her hands settled on her hips as she stares up at Dean.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Sam asks, gaining his feet.

"I'm going to make sure first off, that neither one of you can say 'yes' to Michael or Lucifer by changing your blood. Your blood is what keeps you as their vessels. Then I get back to my work in finding your half brother, and getting _him_ to say yes to Michael, so Michael can defeat Lucifer while he's still trapped in the rotting body he's currently occupying."

"Wait, how are you going to change our blood?" Dean asks, his face showing his disgust thinking they would have to drink blood to change it.

The Goddess rolls her eyes. "Don't be gross. I'm talking a transfusion. My blood for yours. I can get eight pints out, four for each of you, as long as you both do the same. Four a piece. It will change your blood just enough for neither of the arch angels to be able to inhabit you."

"Wait, wait. What about Rachel?" Dean asks, moving closer to her.

"What about her?" The Goddess asks, tilting her head. Rachel's long braid spills over her shoulder.

"Does she know what's going on? What you're planning?" Dean's green eyes met the Goddess' though he realized they were still Rachel's multi colored irises.

She smiles softly, and looks away from him. "Yes. She wants to help." Her head tilts the other direction, as if she were listening to something. "She says 'anything to help put the son of a bitch back into his cage.' She's very much awake inside here."

Sam shakes his head in confusion. "How is that possible?"

"I don't wish to harm her. I don't want to take over her permanently the way Castiel has done to poor Jimmy. I'm merely here to pass along my message to the both of you, and to give you the blood you need. Rachel will be able to help with the powers that accompany the blood surging through you. And trust me, you'll need them for when you face Lucifer. She knows everything I know, which is... pretty much everything you two have done your entire lives."

Dean takes a step back, frowning. "How do you know all of that?"

She smiles. "I had a hand in creating this world with the Christian God. He and I were partners in this creation. He and I were the first despite the other religion's thoughts that they are older then He is. I keep an eye on all of creation. You two especially in the last couple of years. Dean I do apologize for not getting to you sooner."

The look of pure regret in her eyes takes him back. His brow furrows with his confusion. "Sooner?"

"In Hell. I could not locate you in time. I knew Alistair's plans for you. I knew he planned to make you break the first seal. Hell is very large. I searched for thirty three years for you. By then it was too late. I told God about your situation, and pleaded with him to order Castiel to pull you out for five years. Here on earth it was a few days. Then they moved you, it took two more years for him to find you and pull you out."

Over the course of her speech the three men standing before her are shocked into silence. Dean finally speaks up, sputtering slightly. "You? You were responsible for pulling me out?"

She nods slowly. "Yes."

"Why would _you_ care about me being in Hell?"

She sighs, and leans back against the car, more of her vessel coming through. "I knew of their plan to make you the beginner of the freeing of Lucifer. I tried desperately to stop it. I love this place, and the people on it as much as God does." Castiel scoffs and folds his arms over his chest. The Goddess narrows her eyes on him. "Do not think for one moment, Castiel, that God has abandoned the Earth. He is working on his own way to fix the problem at hand. Just as I have been." She turns her attention back to Dean then. "I don't want to see it destroyed. But I also do not want to see you surrendering yourself to Michael," Then she looks back to Sam. "Nor you give yourself to Lucifer. So, here is what I am asking of the three of you; talk over my proposal. Weigh the pros and and cons, and then come to see Rachel. I'll know when you come, and I'll be here waiting when you decide. Do not wait long."

The light surrounds her again, brilliantly, too much for the brothers to keep looking, causing them to turn away. When they look back, Rachel is left leaning against her car, two tears escaping her eyes.


	2. History Lesson

Chapter 2

History Lesson

**A/N : I have taken to doing this every now and then with my fictions, and as a matter of fact, I rather like doing it. **

**Thank you for my one review so far, spread the word I like followers LOL**

**Check my profile for a "book cover" or a portal for this story. I rather imagine Jennifer Love Hewitt to look a bit like Rachel. She's got the sexy curves needed for Rache. **

**For reference, I believe that 5 chapters will take up one "episode" length. And for every chapter break, a commercial break. **

**As far as I know, I'm going to be doing at LEAST three episodes with Rachel/The Goddess so at least 15 chapters. **

**I just let my playlist go for this chapter, though the song I imagine to be playing when the brothers come up Rache's driveway is Disturbed's "the Night" It's on my playlist found on my profile page.**

Rachel looks up as a glass of water is handed to her by Sam. She is sitting on her living room couch, the plush blue fabric not quite as comforting as it had been previously. Her eyes travel the distance up to Sam's eyes before she smiles gratefully and takes the glass from him. "Thanks."

"You alright?" He asks gently, sitting down next to her.

She shrugs. "As alright as I can be when a Goddess shoves her way into my head." She pauses to take a drink of the water, comment softly after she swallows; "I hate when she does that."

Dean leans forward, his forearms resting on his knees. "Does she do that often?"

"Only when she's in a mood." Rachel looks up at him, a soft smirk on her lips.

"Does that mean often?" Dean asks.

She laughs softly, shaking her head. "Depends. If you're asking if she comes down into..." She gestures to herself, her expression showing she doesn't think she's much of anything. "This, often, then it's about once a month."

"Does it happen to reflect any sort of hormones for you?" Dean raises an eyebrow as he stands up.

Sam scoffs. "Dean, seriously?"

Rachel narrows her eyes on him. "No, but those kind of crappy comments will start effecting those hormones."

Dean stops on his way to her front door, and looks back at her. "And what do you think you're going to do about it?"

"You have no _clue_ what I can do after she's left me."

"And what is that?"

Her eyes narrow more, and Dean is thrown against the wall by the door, causing Sam to jump to his feet. "What the hell?"

"Like I said. You have no clue what she's capable of, and what she leaves behind. Her offer is real, and all she asks in return is you two put Lucifer back in the cage."

Sam places his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Ok, you've made your point. But can you explain something to us? What got you into hunting? The Chief of police said that you vouch for the demonic possession, which I can only guess that means you've been exorcising the demons."

She raises her eyebrows for a moment, and settles back into the couch. "That's a long story, you sure you want to hear it?"

Dean comes back into the living room, irritated. "If it explains what the hell that was, yeah."

"That was the Goddess' power left over from her inhabiting my body. That's an easy answer." She sighs, tired already of arguing with him. "Here's the history lesson on Rachel Varden. I was born March 17th 1983." She smirks up at the brothers before she continues. "Though I'm sure you know that already. Yes, the yellow eyed demon Azazel came to my mother ten years before I was born and made a deal with her. He came to take his end of the bargain September 17th of the same year. She walked in on him, tried to stop him, and was killed in a fire. My father barely made it out of the house with me. Much like your father, he went looking for the demon. He was a hunter, as were his parents, grandparents, great grandparents... the list goes on and on. My mother joined him on a few hunts after they were married, but stopped when she got pregnant with me. He never found him."

"Well here's some good news for you, I killed the son of a bitch." Dean says settling back into the chair across from her.

She smiles softly. "Good. My dad stopped hunting when I was thirteen, and I heard nothing from demons or angels, or the Goddess until seven years ago. I was in my sophomore year at Heidelberg College in town here. I was confronted by a ghost, a vengeful female spirit in the dorms. One girl turned up dead, and another hospitalized." She shrugs, a gesture that told the brothers she had no other choice. "I had to go after it. Found the remains, salted, and burnt the bitch to a nice toasty crisp."

Dean smiles, laughing a bit at her choice of words. "Sounds familiar."

"What does?" She asks, frowning.

"Your describing burning the remains."

Sam rolls his eyes. "He means you sound like him."

Rachel's nod is exaggerated a bit. "Oh."

"When did the Goddess first come to you?" Sam asks, trying to get her back on track, throwing a glare at Dean for interrupting her, again.

"I was twenty four. The year I got the ghost was the year I found myself pregnant with my daughter. My husband and I had been dating for two years then, we met each other at orientation. I had gotten two years in on my English degree, and we moved off campus, got a one bedroom apartment, and I went to school part time, and worked. I had my daughter, and when she was three, I started hearing voices in my head. A female voice telling me I was meant for something greater then a struggling mom. Luke and I had gotten married in that time, and we were doing pretty good. So I got angry at the voice. Told it to shove it where the sun doesn't shine. But apparently, the Goddess has sun shining everywhere. She didn't listen, and kept pestering me." She stops, obviously having come to the harder part of her story.

"I didn't understand what was happening when Azazel came for me when I was 24. six months prior to that I had become telekinetic. But when he came, I was with my daughter. Luke was working, I was alone." She looks away from the brothers, and takes a deep breath, still unnerved by what had happened. "They were trying to take me, and my daughter. I knew what they were, and I knew yellow eyes the second I laid eyes on him. I heard her voice again, asking me if I wanted to start on the path to my true destiny. And I told her, 'anything to save my daughter. Please help me.' She did. She came to me then, took over. Azazel made it out, but his cronies didn't know how to run fast enough. You hear of smiting, but you never truly appreciate it until you see it for yourself. Their vessels, and they were just... obliterated. Gone. And she just looked at them. I could feel the power, the... the feeling that she could do anything she wanted, and I'm not going to lie it was amazing. But terrifying." She looks back up at them, her eyes moving back to Castiel, knowing that he knew Jimmy had felt the same, still felt the same. That he still heard his vessel's voice in the back of his head

Castiel nods slightly, knowing exactly what she was implying with her gaze. "Jimmy does speak. But not often."

"He was on the brink of death?"

"This last time, yes."

"Then you saved him."

"And he is grateful."

Rachel nods, then takes a deep breath again. "About a month after that, Luke started... acting different. Would, pick fights with me, and then make up for it, by planting new flowers, a tree on our daughter's fifth birthday. It was such a sweet gesture, I didn't realize that where he'd planted it broke the iron circle I'd placed around my house."

"You did what?" Sam asks.

"When we built the house, I asked the contractors to bury an iron circle around the house. Told him it was lucky for first time home owners." She smirks. "He of course said he'd never heard of it before, but he did it anyway. But where Luke... or rather, the demon that possessed Luke had planted the tree, he'd pulled a piece of the circle out of the ground, and a broken iron circle isn't any good."

"And then the demon killed your daughter and husband?" Sam asks gently, urging her to continue after she had stopped.

Her eyes go distant for a moment, hearing her daughter's pleas for her to help her, that daddy was scaring her. Then shook herself to get rid of the memory, and answered him. "Yeah." She blinks rapidly, trying to keep the tears back that the memory had brought forward. "I took up the hunt then. Followed the signs. I heard of the explosion in Ilchester, at the convent. I knew what it was. That you had let Lucifer free. The Goddess had come to me so many times since then. She had taken over me once she knew what was going on that day, but she was too late. She tried to stop the both of you. She looked everywhere for Lillith to stop her from breaking the seals. But that demon knows how to cover her tracks. And now, you've faced four horsemen, and you're ready to use the rings to put the devil back in his cage. Right?"

Dean frowns, slightly surprised that she had known all of that. "Yeah."

"It won't work." Her comment isn't directed at Dean, but rather Sam. "Your plan to say yes to Lucifer, to bring him in, and fight him off, and jump into the cage yourself?" She shakes her head as Sam starts to nod his. "No. It doesn't matter how much demon blood you drink, it doesn't matter how ready you think you are. You're not. Take her offer. I can help. I'm _ready_ to help. I know that giving that much blood could come close to killing me, but the Goddess swear she won't let that happen. You need to get your friend Bobby here when you're ready to take it. 'cause you will need to take out a third of your blood, four pints to give back to me."

"Differing blood types..." Sam starts, but gets cut off by Rachel shaking her head.

"It'll be the Goddess in me. Blood types doesn't really matter when it comes to her. She had a hand in creating the Earth, and every human. She'll make sure it takes. The Goddess is the one chance you two have."

"So why don't you just take her in and let her go for it?" Dean asks.

"I can't do it alone. And it's too risky to bring Sam anywhere near Lucifer while he's still able to say yes. If he has the Goddess' blood in him, it will change him just enough to where Lucifer won't be able to inhabit him."

"How?" Sam asks.

"Because if you were to say yes to Lucifer while Her blood was in you. You would die, immediately. Lucifer trying to inhabit you, while Her blood is in there, it would be like an all out war inside your body. It would immediately, instantly shut down. But you would have the power, between the two of you, to basically... exorcise his ass right back into the cage. But you'll need all the help you can get."

Dean shakes his head, sighing. "We need time to think."

Rachel nods. "Understandable. But don't take too long."

_Super 8 Motel_

_Tiffin, Ohio_

Dean paces, his cell phone to his ear. "Bobby, I'm telling you everything we just found out, now what kind of validity do we have here?"

Bobby sighs into the phone. "Do you really think she's lying? You two faced Gods what three weeks ago? Is it really so unbelievable that another Goddess is out there, and using this girl as a vessel?"

"No, actually the most unbelievable part is that she really wants to help us."

Bobby snorts into the phone, a bit of a laugh in his voice. "Sit tight, kid. I'll be there. We'll sort this out, figure out what the next step is, and get it over with. Either way, Lucifer is going to get shoved back into the box. Just tell me one thing, which is worse? Potentially losing Sam if he goes through with his plan? Losing entirely and the devil gets to walk the earth, and everyone dies, or trusting a Goddess and probably winning?"

Dean turns and looks at Sam who was staring at his computer screen. "I don't know."

_Rachel Varden's home_

Rachel sits on her living room sofa, feet curled up under her, her TV the only light in the room. A blue crocheted blanket is over her legs, a blown of popcorn in her lap, a sad smile on her lips. Her voice comes from the TV. "Now this is the first time Melanie has said she wanted to go potty, and gone back on her own, and I think..."

The upstairs hallway whips by the screen, obvious she's carrying the video camera. Then a tiny high pitched girl's voice exclaims off camera; "I WENT! I did it mommy!" A two and a half year old comes out of the bathroom door, triumph written on her face.

"Let's see, baby!" The camera moves into the bathroom, focusing on the rug on the floor, and Rachel exclaims, "You did! Good job! Luke! Luke she went in the toilet! She got up there herself!"

A male voice comes onto the camera as it's picked back up and focused on the little girl being enveloped in her father's embrace. "Good job sweetheart! You're such a big girl!"

A silent tear escapes, and drops down Rachel's left cheek. _You could have that life again you know. _The Goddess' voice comes to her, though she doesn't inhabit her.

Rachel shakes her head. "No I can't. You told me you couldn't bring them back."

_You met the man that could give you that today. _

Rachel purses her lips, and laughs dryly. "Sure."

_Both of them are interested in you. Now it may be curiosity, but given time, it could develop to something more. Let them in, Rachel. When this is over, I won't have a need for my vessel, and you will be left alone. Let them in._

"I don't want to. I'll help them, but to let them in. No. They don't want this life, the cookie cutter, normal life, they can't do it, and I can't either anymore." She waits for the Goddess' reply, but none comes.

She glares at the TV which has changed to Melanie playing on a swing set. She moves the bowl, and blanket and starts pacing in front of the couch. "I can't do this. I can't let someone else in. No." She picks up the bowl, and hurls it at the far wall, popcorn, and glass scattering everywhere. "it's not possible! I hate this... I hate you, and I hate everything that your stupid destiny has 'given' me! When this is over, I'm giving my life for it. I'm not making it out. No matter what you want from me. I'll let myself be killed, and damn it, if you bring me back, I'll commit suicide over and over again until you get the point!"

She shakes her head, before sinking to her knees in front of the TV where her daughter was swinging, and laughing. She slams her hand onto the power button, turning the TV off as she allows herself to give into to the urge to cry.

**A/N:** Reviews make me happy. R&R please!


	3. The Decision is Made

Chapter 3

The Decision is Made

**A/N: More reviews! I love getting them. **

**Inspiration for this: Episodes of Supernatural, plus just letting my playlist play through. **

**Sorry for the delay. This one was giving me fits on where I wanted to end it. Hopefully the humor in it will make up for it. **

_Super 8 Motel_

The next morning, a knock sounds on their room door, Dean answers to a very weary looking Bobby. "What'd you get?" He asks moving past Dean to the table, dropping a bag in the chair nearest him.

"Other then a headache, nothin'." He responds, leaning against the front door, glaring at Sam.

Bobby looks between the two, frowning. "What is it this time?"

Dean sighs heavily, before gesturing angrily to his brother. "This idiot wants to still say yes, even though we've got a great opportunity to do this together, and come out winning without worrying about each other dying."

Bobby looks back at Sam. "You are trying to kill me aren't you?"

Sam sighs before responding. "Look, I've had enough with blood. As it is I'm going to have to ingest too much demon blood for my liking in order to fight Lucifer off, but at least I know that'll work. We don't even know if the Goddess' blood will work!"

"It's worth trying! If we make a deal..."

Sam cuts his brother off. "I think we've had enough making deals with demons and gods and angels..." He looks back to Castiel. "No offense... then we really should." He shakes his head, running his hands through his hair. "I don't think we need to be making anymore deals."

"Sam if this means you _live_, I don't see the problem with trying!"

"And if we need to detox afterward? It's going right into our veins, Dean! She's talking a transfusion!"

Bobby holds his hands up, stepping between them. "Enough! Don't you two get it?" He looks to Sam. "You were all raring to say yes, and take the leap before you any any other options, and now that you do have another option, it's staring you right in the face, and you're willing to turn your back on it? Don't be stupid!" Then he looks back to Dean. "Arguing with him about it, it isn't going to do any good. It's only going to make him want to do whatever you tell him not to do, don't you have enough brains in your head to realize that?"

"Well since he's my dumbass brother, I guess not." Dean says shaking his head, resuming his pacing.

"Dean, I'm just saying we need to be careful. We don't know what we're getting into."

Bobby sighs. "Ok, then here's what you do. You go to Rachel, she said she'd come when you did. You ask her your questions, and figure it out from there. If it seems real enough, you go with it. If not..." He sighs, hating having to continue. "If not... then we go with Sam's plan."

"Are you insane?" Dean asks stopping, glaring at Bobby. He looks between the three men in the room before storming out to the parking lot, slamming the door behind him.

Sam gets up to follow after him, but as he moves past Castiel, the angel holds his arm out, stopping him. "You'll only anger him further." Instead of letting Sam go chase after him, Cas moves to the door, stepping just outside the room to watch Dean in the parking lot, staring up at the blue sky.

"What more can you take from me?" He whispers. "My mother, my father, my life... and now you want my brother's?" His voice breaks slightly on his last word. "Haven't I tried saving him enough? Does he really have to do this? Haven't we done enough? Can't you stop this crap yourself? Or is it you've figured out we're all screwed up, realized your mistake, and now you want to start over again? Why does it have to be on us to save the world? Really? The world?" He shakes his head, then screams, "Screw you pal! You need to be here taking care of the problem! This is your mess too! It's your grand plan for us, we didn't ask for this, but you sure as hell find pleasure in screwing us over don't you?" He looks away for a long moment, then back up to the sky. "I'll fix your mess. But you can sure as hell bet, when I'm done, I'm coming after you. Don't you think for a second I won't find you. Because I will, and I will find a way to kill you."

He turns then stops, startled to find Castiel staring at him. "What?"

Castiel shakes his head. "You cannot kill God, Dean."

"Watch me."

"What are you going to do now?" The angel asks.

"Pep talk my brother."

_Rachel Varden's home. _

Rachel wakes up late I the morning, curled up on the couch, the blue afghan tucked under her chin. Slowly she blinks and focuses on the clock above the TV. _11:34 am_. Quickly she sits up, and groans. "Too late... damn it." Only a few moments pass, allowing her to wake up a bit more, when she heard the tell tale roar of an engine. The Impala that had carried the Winchester brothers up her drive the afternoon before. She throws the afghan off of her, and races to the basement door, she had fallen asleep in the clothes she wore the day before, and like hell would she be seen in the exact same outfit.

She moves down the stairs two at a time, grabs a laundry basket and jerks the clothes out of the dryer, pulling on a fresh pair of underwear, jeans, and a feminine T-shirt. It doesn't take her long before she moves back up the stairs, the basket on her hip, her washer set to go. Heavy knocking sounds on the door as she emerges in the hallway, and she watches through the white gauze curtain as Dean takes a step back, and prepares to kick the door in.

"Whoa!" she yells, dropping the basket before running to the door, jerking it open. "Hey! Do you always break down people's doors when you come visiting?"

He stops, taken off balance by the door opening. "You didn't answer."

Rachel leans against the doorway, bracing herself on her right arm, her left hand coming up to her hip. "I can't get my laundry?"

Dean stutters slightly under her scrutiny. "Well.. I..."

She nods slightly, smirking. "T-t-today Junior."

He stops, then laughs at her, Sam steps forward, smirking, glad to see someone else that could put Dean in his place after Ellen and Jo. "We want to talk to Her."

Rachel nods. "Of course you do." She lets the door fall open further, and tilts her head toward the living room. "Come on in." She moves back down the hallway, grabbing the clothes that had fallen out of the toppled over basket, and throws them back in, then follows Bobby and Castiel into the living room, the basket in her hands. She lets it drop onto the floor, ignoring the fact she had her more private items of clothing peaking out of the top of the clothes, of which she catches Dean eying them intently. She considers folding the clothes right there in front of them just to spite him, but knows that once the Goddess entered her, she wouldn't keep it up. And it really wouldn't make that much of a difference anyway then.

She settles back into the overstuffed chair, and takes a deep breath. "You might not want to watch this." The three human men avert their eyes, and she calls the Goddess, who doesn't take long to respond before gently (much more gently then before) taking possession of her vessel. "Sam... Dean. Good to see you again."

When the brothers look back at Rachel, it was very obvious the change in the woman. She sat straighter, her voice almost sounded older, more powerful, and the amount of energy that poured from the woman was unmistakable. It was a nurturing, motherly feeling that immediately put all three human men at ease. Castiel is, for the most part, unaffected by the Goddess' presence, but he bows his head to her out of respect.

She offers all of them a serene smile. "You have questions."

Sam nods. "Yes. You talked about switching blood. That the power your blood would give us would give us the power to take Lucifer out."

She nods. "Yes?

"Is that going to... are we going to have to..." Sam can't quite get the proper words out.

"Detox?" She asks, knowing full well the effect of demon blood that Sam had ingested previously. Sam nods, relieved she said the word. "No. My blood is not as harsh as a demon's. You both can feel not even my presence is as disturbing or invasive as a demon's. The two of you can spot a demon a mile away, normally without even seeing their black eyes. It's the feel of them, their presence is unnerving, evil, you can tell something isn't right." She waits for only a moment to gain their nods before continuing. "I know the energy I give off. It's calming, soothing." Dean, even though agreeing with her, still looked unnerved. "My power is very much the same. While I pack a punch, as Rachel can testify to, my blood will only give you the boost for as long as it takes for your body to replace it. Which is a few hours for the initial boost to wear off. You'll still display some power for about four weeks afterward, but it'll just slowly disappear. After those four to five hours... which is really all it takes... you'll want to make sure not to use the abilities for everything. It'll be tempting, but if you get too used to them, once they're gone, and you try using them, you could get yourself in serious trouble."

Dean nods, understanding exactly what she means. "So use the power to take Lucifer out, shove him back into his cage, and never use them again."

"Exactly. And don't wait too long to find Lucifer before you take my blood into yourself. You'll want to know exactly where he is, how to find him, and get there within four hours. You'll then have two remaining hours to defeat him, and any demons that may be protecting him." She chuckles softly. "Which with my power, wouldn't take much."

"What about matching blood types?" Dean asks.

"It won't matter. Rachel is a universal donor."

Sam frowns. "But that means if one of us doesn't have O blood, she can't have it."

The Goddess smiles. "There is a miracle worker inside her body. Trust me, she'll be fine."

Dean frowns. "You can do that? Change blood type?"

"I am a creator, I can change blood type, pull Lucifer from the poor man he's inhabiting, an upper level exorcism if you will, create life, create the world with God." both of the brothers frown at her. "Oh, He didn't do it alone. Do you honestly think He could have come up with the complexity of the human mind all by Himself?" She smiles conspiratorially at them. "Don't translate that wrong, God is a friend of mine." She starts to say something else, then stops, humming softly in amusement. Then decides not to speak at all.

"How much would we have to give in return?" Dean asks.

"Four pints each."

The color leaves Dean's face. "Which means we're taking eight from Rachel?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that dangerous? It could kill her!"

The Goddess smiles softly. "Just as demons can keep their vessels alive, I can do the same for her. It may be difficult to keep hold of her, but with both of us fighting to stay alive, it won't harm her."

"Does she know what she's in for? Does she even agree to this?" Dean was becoming more and more irritated with the thought of the Goddess doing something to Rachel without her consent. It made the Goddess no better then the demons they fought, no better then the Gods they faced weeks ago.

She smiles. "She knows. And she's willing to help in anyway she can."

"How do we know that for sure?" Sam asks, becoming unnerved himself.

The voice coming from Rachel's body lost it's age as it spoke again, "Because I'm willing to put that son of a bitch back into the cage in anyway I can." Rachel was definitely speaking again.

Sam laughs shortly, impressed. "How do you do that?"

The Goddess speaks again. "I wouldn't completely take over her the way a demon takes over it's victims. She has complete control, and can take her voice back whenever she sees fit."

"What about you?" Sam asks.

She frowns, genuinely confused. "What about me?"

"What do you get out of this?" He clarifies.

"The knowledge that the world I helped to create will not end. And the evil that walks this Earth will be put back where it belongs. I am tired of Lucifer, he is a toddler throwing a tantrum because there's a new baby in the house. I've grown quite tired of him, and his temper, and would very much like to ground him." Sam chuckles softly, and her annoyed, yet amused gaze turns to him. "No one realizes the true extent of the creation of the world, of angels and demons, and human life."

"That's it?" Dean asks. "That's all you want in return?"

The Goddess smiles softly. "The both of you have already given enough. All I want is the the evil in this place put back where it belongs."

They lapse into a silence for a moment, the Goddess looking at the both of them, waiting patiently. "We need a few minutes." Sam says, earning him a glare from his brother.

She nods, and pulls her legs up under her in the chair, almost as if it were Rachel getting more comfortable, but then she crossed them in a lotus position, resting her wrists on her knees. "Take your time."

_Sam is too persistent. _Rachel tells the Goddess from the back of her own mind.

_He will come around, you worry too much about failure. _

_Can you blame me? With everything you've shown and told me about him? How can we trust him to go through with it? _

The Goddess chuckles softly. _You worry far too much for your own good, you'll wind up giving yourself premature wrinkles, my dear. _

_Why do you care so much? _

_I have to wear this body._

There was a long silent pause before Rachel spoke back to her. _That just sounds wrong on so many levels. _

Sam's throat clearing brings the both of them out of their meditation, The Goddess opens Rachel's eyes, to stare expectantly at the two of them.

"We'll do it." Dean says.

She smiles widely. "Excellent. I'll give you enough time to find Lucifer, then of course..." She stops for a moment as Sam speaks.

"Come back to Rachel?"

The Goddess smiles. "Yes."

Dean stands, moving toward her. "So how do we solidify this thing?"

She shakes her head. "You are too used to working with demons, I'm afraid." She takes in a sharp breath as a thought occurs to her. "Oh yes there is one more thing."

Deans shoulders slumped, his boyish smirk leaving for an angry glare. "what?"

"Calm down, it's nothing too terrible, I hope. I merely ask that you..." Her eyes move to Sam. "Take care of Ra..." her speech is cut off mid sentence, though the lips finished forming the woman's name, the voice did not.

_That's enough! Don't you dare! Don't you even think about it! _Rachel screams at her from the back of their collective mind.

_Oh! You know it's the truth!_

_Don't you DARE!_

_Just as stubborn as they are. _The Goddess chastises.

_You're not? You're not going to continue? _

The Goddess rolls her eyes, even letting the brothers, Bobby, and Castiel see the movement, and exasperation. _Alright, fine. _

Rachel steps further back, releasing her hold on the Goddess' speech. "Apparently Rachel is too damn stubborn to allow me to finish." She smiles at Sam, "but I believe you caught what I was trying to say."

Sam nods slightly, and he shrugs. "Ok."

Dean brings her attention back to him once more. "So how _do_ we solidify this?"

"A verbal exchange. My word is my bond, I cannot physically or spiritually make a promise, only to break it. No loopholes, no fine print. So we are in agreement. Four pints from the two of you, to replace the eight I will give to be split evenly between the two of you. You use my abilities that will transfer to put Lucifer back in Hell." She gestures her hand as if it were a simple fleeting thought not really worth mentioning the next, "Do the other thing I asked before I was so rudely interrupted. And I promise, as long as everything goes according to the set plan, no mortal harm will come to either of you. And I will never inhabit Rachel after the task is done. That is my promise to _her_ you understand. Do we all agree?"

Sam and Dean both nod, speaking in unison their agreement, and Rachel agrees from the back of her own mind.

The Goddess smiles. "Great! I look forward to seeing you again. You may want to turn away." As the human men turn, The Goddess takes her leave. Once the light dies down, Rachel is left, wrapping her arms around herself semi self conscious about the irritating "take care of Rachel" The Goddess tried getting the boys to agree to. "So... Do we want a preview of what's to come?"

Sam smirks as he stands and takes a step forward. "What was that the Goddess was trying to say before you interrupted her?"

"Nothing, something stupid."

Dean smirks. "Well we just agreed to it, so what did we just agree to do?"

Rachel rolls her eyes, completely annoyed. "To take care of me. I don't need it and you don't need to do it."

"Why would she..." Sam starts, confused.

"Don't worry about it!" She snaps. "Now what are we looking for in finding Lucifer?"

Dean looks back to Bobby, "Any ideas?"

Bobby shrugs, "There was a cyclone in Florida, Temps dropped in Detroit, wildfires in L.A."

Dean holds his hand up, stopping him. "What about Detroit?"

"What the temperature drop?"

"That's it." Dean meets Sam's eyes.

Rachel frowns. "How do you know?"

Dean sighs. "It's where Lucifer once said Sam would say yes to him. He's waiting there for us."

Sam shakes his head. "No... just me."

Rachel sighs, and nods. "Ok then. She's aware, when do you wanna do this."

Dean shakes his head. "Well we gotta get the supplies, this can't be a simple transfusion, we have to get blood bags, tubes, needles..."

Rachel shrugs. "Go raid Red Cross." She stops for a moment. "One of you come to the store with me." All of them look back at her confused. "Oh let me guess you'd like the potential last meal you ever eat to be Corn chips and beer?"

"You're offering dinner?" Dean asks, stunned.

She shrugs. "You're going out there and saving the world. What else do I have to offer? Besides my Yoda skills in teaching you two everything I know about her abilities before you go barreling in there guns blazing.. metaphorically speaking of course."

Dean shoves Sam toward Rachel, grinning. "And bring me some pie."

Sam frowns at his brother, but shakes his head, and motions toward the front door. Rachel smiles slightly as she moves past them, grabbing her purse and keys from a table by the front door as she walks out of the house, her four dinner guests right behind her.

Dean walks back into Rachel's home hours later, stopping as he hears something rather ridiculous coming from the kitchen, Bobby and Castiel not far behind him.

"Shove it in harder!" Rachel is saying.

"I'm trying, but it's not going in." Sam returns, grunting slightly.

"OH you're such a wuss. You're not going to break it."

"It's going to rip." Sam chuckles softly.

"Well then make it bigger." Her voice trails off for a moment, then she speaks again. "See?"

Dean frowns, completely confused, but not entirely sure he wanted to know what was going on in there. He stops at the very edge of the doorway, listening for a moment longer. He shares a look with Bobby, the older man clearly saying he really didn't want to know what was going on in that room.

Sam laughs. "Ok, I get it, but doesn't that ruin it?"

"Not really, the more you get in there, the better."

"You've done this before I take it?"

"My husband loved it." Dean's eyes widen hearing Rachel's words, and he looks back to Bobby, almost scared... and yet impressed at the same time.

Another grunt from Sam, "And you're ok with sharing this?"

"It's not that big of a deal. It's been two years. I miss it."

And then silence for a while until Rachel yelps in pain. "Damn it!"

"What? Are you ok?"

"Cut myself, going too fast." A low moan comes from her, and then water running.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Sam asks, his voice concerned.

"Yeah, you're about done there, now shove one of these," A rattling sound comes from the kitchen. "in each hole."

He can't take it anymore and steps into the kitchen, then is thoroughly confused when he sees both of the occupants fully clothed, Rachel running water over her finger, and Sam down the counter a bit. The trash can was beside the kitchen table, and a large pot was on the table, a bag of potatoes on the floor by the can. A paring knife discarded on the table. "What in the hell is going on?"

Rachel frowns back at him. "Making dinner." Her voice has a "duh" tone to it. "Why?"

Dean takes a deep breath trying not to laugh as he speaks again. "Go back to 'Shove it harder' and then rethink the conversation." It doesn't take Sam as long as it takes Rachel to get his point, as his brother glares at him.

A few seconds later, Rachel's eyes widen, and she bursts into laughter. "Oh my GOD." She moves over to Sam pushing on him to get him to move away from the counter, revealing a roasting pot with a ham peaking out of the top of it. "I was telling him to shove pineapple into the ham. And then the peppercorns in to each hole with a pineapple piece in it." She laughs harder, doubling over holding her stomach. "What the hell did you really think was going on? Shoving multiple playthings into various orifices?"

Dean tilts his head, admitting guilt in that statement. "Well..."

She cringes, and shakes her head, trying to get rid of the sudden disturbing images that popped up in front of her mental eyes. "Oh gross."

Dean smirks and takes the box Bobby was carrying and drops it inside the kitchen. "Everything we'll need for the transfusion."

She nods. "Great. You'll definitely need food in your system, so after we all eat..." She trails off seeing Dean moving to the Cherry pie on the table. "HEY!"

He stops cold in his steps, and stares at her. "What?"

"After dinner! What's the matter with you?"

His shoulders slump. "You're telling me I can't eat my pie?"

Her hands end up on her hips again, and her gaze turns into one Sam is sure she used multiple times on her daughter, and her husband. "Not now." Her voice is almost daring him to take another step to the pie, daring him to defy her. The duo stare at each other for a long moment, Sam, Bobby, and Castiel watching the silent exchange.

Dean's eyes move back and forth between Rachel and the tempting confection on the table. "Is that home made?"

She nods slowly. "It'll go into the oven as soon as the ham is out."

His eyes move back to the pie, his expression changing slowly. She'd made time to lattice the top, weaving strips of dough over and under each other, an intricate task that he'd only seen before in TV commercials, magazine ads, and diners that had incredibly too much time on their hands due to lack of customers. His gaze moves back to this brother's helpless one, stunned that she would put so much effort into making a meal like this, and since she had gone through all the trouble of making everything the way she had... with Sammy's help apparently... He sighs, and heads for the fridge. "Do you at least have a beer?"

She grins, obviously loving the fact that she won against him. "Bottom shelf, help yourself." She looks back to Bobby. "That goes for you too." Her eyes settle on Castiel, and starts to speak to him as well.

He holds his hands up. "No more alcohol for me, thank you."

"I was going to say there's bottled water in there for you if you would like it."

The Angel swallows almost testing out if he truly wanted it or not, then concedes, though he seemed troubled by it, and grabs a bottle Dean holds out to him.

Rachel smiles up at Sam, thanks him for his help, then wraps Aluminum foil over the top of the pan loosely before shoving it into the toasty oven. She sets the timer for an hour and a half, then returns to the potatoes on the table.

"You..." Dean stops as he advanced on her. "You want help?" he swallows roughly, nervous, and obviously completely uncomfortable, but not wanting to seem as if he didn't appreciate everything she was willing to do for all of them.

She smiles up at him, and nods slightly. "Thanks. Knives are in the top drawer in the corner." everyone was silent, Bobby and Sam both slightly shocked that Dean would offer his help like that, then as Dean takes a seat across from her, and starts peeling the brown skins off of the vegetables, Bobby steps forward, asking if there was anything he could do to help as well. She nods to the counter where carrots and celery were waiting to be chopped. "Sure if you feel like it. I gotta put that in in a half hour. Chop them into chunks?"

Bobby nods, and grabs a chef's knife from the same drawer. He looks at Castiel for a moment, then returns to the drawer grabbing a second knife. He grabs the bag that laid under the carrots, wrapping it around them and shoved both the vegetables, and the knife into the angel's hands. "Do what she said."

Rachel looks up, slightly overwhelmed by the help she was receiving. "You guys really don't ..."

Bobby holds his hand up, stopping her. "You're going to the trouble of cooking it, we're gonna eat it, we may as well help."

She smiles sheepishly, and goes back to cutting up the potato she had in her hand. "Thanks." her gaze moves to Sam's for a moment, who was just staring in awe at the others in the room, obviously not having seen this happen often.

She moves her attention back to the vegetables she was peeling, and quartering, her hands moving more robotically, while her mind moves back to the conversation she'd had with the younger Winchester at the store.

"_Can I ask you a question?" He asked. _

_She shrugged, "Sure, why not?" She grabbed a cart, and pushed it through the automatic doors, heading right for the produce. _

"_Why are you doing this?" _

_She stopped in front of the celery, looking over the bunches. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific." _

_He laughed softly, a smile remaining on his lips as he spoke. "All of it, giving away your..." He lowered his voice a bit so other customers couldn't over hear. "your blood, making us dinner... Why is it you care?" _

_She shrugged again, smiling. "It's been two years... I've gotten revenge, over and over again for my family... and two years since I've felt like I wanted to cook like this. I haven't cooked for more then one in 26 months, 2 weeks, and four days." She reached out, taking a bunch of the celery, and shoved it into the narrow bag she'd torn off. "I want this nightmare to end. Lucifer is the reason demons exist in the first place. If he stays free... more mothers have to go through losing their children. More wives see their husbands dead. And more often then not, only one survivor in a large family, and they wonder... why me? Lucifer gets put back into his box..." She grabbed a bag of carrots, and then potatoes and threw them into the cart. "Demons will be thrown into chaos. No specific orders... and no orders means more carelessness, means I get to send more of them back to Hell where they belong." _

_He nodded, seemingly almost unsure if he truly understood her motives or not. _

"_Can I ask you something?" She asked stopping in front of the hams. She waited for his shrug, and slight nod before putting her question to him. "Why do you do it?" _

_It takes him a moment to answer, waiting until she'd set the ham into the cart, and turned with her to head for the baking isle. "Because no one else will. Because if Dean and I don't fight, people die." _

_She shrugged. "People die everyday, Sam. It's the way of the world." _

_He nodded, and tilted his head as if he were considering it for a moment. "True. But less people do every day because of anything supernatural." _

_She nodded, completely understanding his reasoning. She stood in the baking isle staring at the pie fillings for a long moment before deciding on the cherries. _

"_You know, we're a lot alike." She frowned back at him in confusion. "I lost my mom to Azazel too. Lost someone I loved..." he laughed dryly. "more then once. It never gets easier, but fighting sure as hell helps." _

_Rachel nodded. "Yeah, it does." _

_They fell into a companionable silence as they went through the self check out, Sam handing her the things to bag once he'd scanned them, and as she paid, he grabbed the bags, holding onto them rather then placing them into the cart. Once out in her car he spoke again. "One more question?" _

_She laughed. "Full of them tonight huh?"_

"_But they're for you this time, not the Goddess." _

"_Ok, what?" She started the engine, and pulled out of her spot, moving to the road. _

"_Why did She want you taken care of?" _

_She groaned softly, dropping her forehead to the steering wheel as she stopped waiting for traffic to clear before pulling out into it. "She's maternal. Protective." _

"_of the vessel?" _

"_Of everyone. I mean you had to feel her presence when She was in me. Imagine feeling that coursing through your veins, that amount of power, love, compassion... She thinks that I need a family again. She thinks I want one again." _

"_Do you?" _

_She shrugged, and pulled onto the road, sparing him a glance. "A part of me does, but another part.." She shook her head, not sure if she truly wanted to continue. _

"_You're scared." He said. It was a statement, a completely true statement, damn him if he wasn't right on the mark. She nodded, confirming it. "rightfully so." he waited until she turned onto 53, heading back to her house down the long stretch through town before speaking again. "What happened that night?" _

_She shook her head. "not something I really want to remember, Sam." _

"_What happened after?" _

"_I tracked down the son of a bitch. He was inhabiting a college student." This she was fine talking about, it was her job, not her life. "I found him, he was going to slaughter the fraternity the kid belonged to. Should have seen the society's faces when I burst into the hall, throwing holy water on the vice president. They started to throw me out, but thanks to the Goddess, they didn't succeed, and I exorcised that bastard right there on the stage, on the president's chair. Their faces after that were priceless." She grinned over at him. _

_He laughed. "I would have loved to have seen that." _

_She rose her eyebrows for a moment, grinning at him. "maybe after all this, I could join you guys on a hunt or two?" _

_He smiled at her. "We'll definitely keep you in mind." _

They'd come into the house then, she'd mixed up the pie as Sam readied the ham, and that's when Dean had come back with Bobby and the Angel, who was far from being an angel anymore. The kitchen finally felt to her as if it'd regained a family feel to it again.

Her eyes move over those surrounding her, helping her to finish her dinner. Family. The word meant so much, it's something she's not entirely sure she wants again, and yet... those around her, the rag tag bunch of misfits they were, makes her feel as though she had one again. She smiles before slicing the potato into quarters, throwing it into the pot.


End file.
